Valiant (episode)
Fleeing a Jem'Hadar attack aboard a runabout, Jake and Nog are rescued by a Defiant-class ship, crewed by the cadets of Red Squad. Summary Nog and Jake are on a trip to Ferenginar to deliver an official diplomatic message from the Federation Council to the Grand Nagus. Even if the cadet won't say anything about its content, his reporter friend suspect its about something big, maybe even an alliance. Their discussion is cut short when they encounter a wing of four Jem'Hadar fighters. Even if they weren't the original objective, one fighter break the formation and attacks the Shenandoah. They are miraculously by a ship they first believe to be the Defiant but finally reveals to be the USS Valiant. After the ''Defiant'' class ship destroys the enemy fighter, the two friends are taken to the bridge to see the captain and informed on the situation. The Valiant's original purpose was to bring seven officers and 35 cadets on a 3 months training mission. However, they were on the wrong side of the line when the war with the Dominion broke off, 8 months ago, and have suffered casualties since then. When captain Ramirez was fatally wounded, he promoted cadet Tim Watters to the rank of captain and gave him command of the Valiant, along with its orders to collect technical data on a new Dominion battleship. Since they were ordered radio silence, the ship had been cut from the rest of starfleet from the beginning of the war, but the young captain is determined to carry on his mission. He is more than happy to welcome a competent engineer aboard in his undermanned ship. With Nog's help, the Valiant is soon able to go to warp 4 and go forward with the mission. Between an over-zealous crew and an almost inhuman dynamic, the mission eventually comes to a successful end. Nevertheless, since their scans seems to indicate a major flaw in the design of the cruiser, captain Watters proposes to destroy the battlecruiser and return home as heroes. Even if common sense tells them to leave the area with their new information, the reward outweight the risk and the Red Squad gladly follows its leader. In the following battle, the Valiant is suffers heavy damages but they are able to launch torpedoes at the cruiser sweet spot. Even if a huge explosion witness a lot of damages to the battle ship, it fails to destroy it completely as they hoped. The battle conclusion is fatal to the Valiant and the surviving crewmen must head to the escape pods. Only 3 survivors are later rescued by the Defiant: Nog, Jake and Dorian Collins. Since Jake is planning to write about the incident, he ask his friend about how he should put the whole thing in perspective. The Ferengi says that even if the Valiant had a good crew, they should not have followed captain Watters so blindly. With Dorian's opinion that it was the crew that failed the captain, it is decided that both version will be presented so that people will be able to decide for themselves. Memorable Quotes "If we keep going in this direction, we'll run into Cardassia Prime. And that won't be any fun at all" :- Jake Sisko "He may have been a hero... he may even have been a great man... but in the end, he was a bad captain." :- Nog Background Information *Ronald D. Moore also wrote "The First Duty" which focused on Nova Squadron. *Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien) does not appear in this episode. *This episode marked the final appearance of the runabout USS Shenandoah. *The failed attack run the Valiant attempts on the Jem'Hadar battleship alludes to the attack run on the Death Star by Red Group in Star Wars Episode IV. Both involve out-matched protagonists attempting to take down a much larger target by coming in very close, launching torpedoes, and blowing up the target by exploiting a key weakness. Links and References Guest Stars *Aron Eisenberg as Nog *Paul Popowich as Tim Watters *Courtney Peldon as Karen Farris *David Drew Gallagher as Riley Aldrin Shepard *Ashley Brianne McDonough as Dorian Collins *Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn (uncredited) References ''Defiant''-class; ''Defiant'', USS; delta radiation; Federation News Service; Grand Nagus; Jem'Hadar battleship; Kepla sector; Lunar schooner;radio silence; Ramirez, Captain; Red Squad; ''Republic'', USS; ''Shenandoah'', USS; Starbase 257; Tycho City; ''Valiant'', USS; warp core assembly; Zek Category:DS9 episodes de:Valiant nl:Valiant (aflevering)